


please tell me that this could be easy

by whataboutateakettle



Series: Five Stages of Truth (or Dare) [3]
Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 16:38:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3736048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whataboutateakettle/pseuds/whataboutateakettle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She should’ve known it was only a matter of time before she’d have to deal with this." // Bargaining.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If this seems restless, _it is_ , so I apologise. This is somewhat of a filler, which happens when you have four strong ideas for a five part series. But, I do think this part is important for the stuff that will come in parts 4 and 5.
> 
> Chapter two is a little hidden scene that takes place right after the beginning of this one, from Toby's POV.
> 
> Also shout out to Dannii for being my personal writing cheerleader. You da best!!

“ _You know_ ,” She’s leaning forward from her chair giving Toby, and all of them, a clear view of her cleavage. Her voice is low and sultry. “When this is all over, maybe we could get a drink? If you’d like to pick my brains some more?”

If Toby is surprised, or flattered, or turned on, he doesn’t show it. But he does take half a second longer to return his eyes to her face.

“This is _pointless_ ,” Happy huffs, turning her back to the scene at hand. “She’s just playing him. _And_ _us_. If anyone needs me, I’ll be at my bench.”

The woman is insufferable. Her ex-husband is missing and Toby’s supposed to be getting a read on whether she knows anything. But it’s pretty clear all she knows is how to flirt shamelessly. She’s been avoiding any straight answers for almost 20 minutes now, although Happy expects that he’ll be able to get the information out of her anyway.

When she reaches her bench, she looks back to the where the interview is taking place, finds Paige watching her thoughtfully, rather than the interview. Happy shrugs pointedly, she just doesn’t want to watch them all waste their time, that’s all.

She has a sudden urge to take out her hammer, but knows that she can’t make that much noise in the garage right now. She breathes deeply, counts to 10, finds her screwdriver instead. If Doc’s voice counts with her in her head she’d never admit it.   

* * *

Hours later, she’s lying on the couch, flicking through channels, when she hears a key being pushed in the lock. Her boots are on the floor, her feet up on the coffee table and she’s already helped herself to a beer.

She’s been here nearly an hour and though her instructions were to never follow her out, he doesn’t usually take _this_ long. It’s been a weird day, their case is still open but they’ve basically run out of _next moves_ until Cabe’s Homeland minions find something they can use. Besides, she’s not thinking about the case. She’s thinking about how much she wants to -

“Do we need to talk about you picking my locks again?” His voice comes from the doorway. He’s not angry though, he never is. The first time he came home to find her in his apartment she’s pretty sure he was impressed. He was definitely turned on by it. What can she say? The man has issues, but it’s working for her.  

He should get better locks, she wants to tell him. His are stupidly weak; a twelve year old could probably get through them. She’s not sure what someone would want to take from his book-crammed, retro-curtained  apartment, but they could get in if they wanted to. She swallows the thought, pushes herself up from the couch to face him.

“Took you long enough.”

He nods, “Sorry, I got caught up with P-” He stops himself, swallows the end of his sentence. _Paige_ , he was probably going to say. Something about Paige. She doesn’t take the time to ask, just pushes herself onto her toes to crash her lips into his. His hands find her waist instantly, holding her up. They both know the drill, it’s routine to them now. She reaches up to his neck, about to pull him down further so she can reach him better but he pulls his head away suddenly, hands still on her waist.

He’s staring at her, starts to open his mouth but instead just grins at her like he knows something.

“What?” she asks. This stop-and-stare is not part of the routine.

“I – nothing. It can wait,” he nods decisively, leans down to kiss her again. She pushes him towards the bedroom, and he moves, stepping backwards. The path is familiar to both of them; they don’t even bump into any walls they don’t mean to.

* * *

 He breaks routine again, afterwards. Usually he stays in his bed, watches her get dressed, provides a running commentary on the view he’s getting as she tries to find her underwear wherever it got discarded. He’s never funny, but she finds herself laughing with him. The whole thing is easy; it’s  _supposed_ to be easy. Come. Fun. Go.

Or come, _cum,_ go, as she’s sure he would put it.

Tonight, he’s out of bed before she is, pressing a lazy kiss to her lips before she can protest. She watches him leave the bedroom, confused enough that she’s still in bed under the sheets, when he comes back two open beers in hand.

“What are you doing?” She asks, eyeing him warily as he hands one to her.

“Offering you a drink,” he replies, looks at her like he’s recommending she take it. Something’s off and she can’t put her finger on it. She takes the bottle.

“Why are you being weird, Doc?” she asks, before taking a swig. It’s her favourite beer, and she’s a little curious as to why he has a whole case in his fridge when she’s never seen him drink this brand before. But currently, there are more pressing matters.

“Paige asked me about us today,” he says finally, sitting back on the bed next to her. He’s being careful not to touch her, she can tell.

She tightens her lips. She should’ve known it was only a matter of time before she’d have to deal with this.

“What’d you tell her?” Her tone is more accusing than she means it to be. If Paige asked, then she probably already knew, or at least suspected something. She shouldn’t blame him, but it is definitely easier. And she’s scrambling for easy right now.

He narrows his eyes at her, his voice more curt that before. “I told her there was nothing to talk about. But Paige is the least of our problems; the others are going to start to notice even if she doesn’t say anything. I hate to break it to you but we work with some pretty smart people. ”

“Are you saying you want to stop?” Her fingers have started playing with the paper label on the bottle, without her even realising. She quickly takes another sip, just to distract herself.

“If I ever suggest that, you have my permission to have me committed,” he deadpans, and then looks at her seriously. “I’m just saying, you should prepare yourself for people asking questions.”

“You don’t,” She says suddenly, the words escaping out of her mouth as soon as she thinks them.

“Hmm?” he furrows his brow.

“You’ve never tried to talk about what we’re doing. That’s not like you,” she points out.

“Talk about what? Why you find me irresistible? I thought that was obvious,” he replies, smirking at her.  It amazes her sometimes, how he can switch between smug bastard and sincere guy so quickly, how he can annoy her and intrigue her at the same time.

She shakes her head, not even sure where this conversation was supposed to go. She wants to return to the routine. She likes the routine, and she’s giving him enough credit to know that too.

He sighs, takes another sip of his beer. “Happy, if I told you all the things I wanted to do _with_ you between doing all the things we’re already doing, you would run for the hills.  That’s not a risk I’m ready to take yet.”

She frowns, suddenly feels trapped by things she can’t control or predict, like _him_. She puts her beer down next to the bed and climbs out, starts pulling on her clothes. He watches her from the bed, and heaviness hangs in the room. Usually she leaves, knowing they’re both tired, drained in all the right ways. Now she feels a differently kind of empty coming from him.

“You could stay you know, staying the night wouldn’t change anything,” he says, but his voice is flat. Like he knows it’s not going to work on her.

She stands up, boots on, looks at him pointedly. “Just keeping it simple,” she forces a smirk as the _Stupid_ hangs between them. He gives it to her, grins back.

* * *

The next day, after the case is closed, she waits until they’re alone. Until Sylvester leaves to go see Megan and until Toby leaves his desk to talk to Walter upstairs. Paige is sitting alone, filling out paperwork, doesn’t look up until Happy is literally standing over her.

“Hi,” she smiles, warm and bright. Happy sometimes wonder what it would be like to go through life like Paige. Not as a normal, but _open_.

“Doc told me you talked to him yesterday,” she starts and Paige instantly straightens. “I don’t know what he told you exactly but it doesn’t really matter.”

“He didn’t-”

“What’s important is that you don’t tell Walter.” She continues.

Paige frowns. “Don’t you think he’ll be upset that you guys are keeping a secret from him?”

She shakes her head, she knows how Walter thinks. He wouldn’t be upset, he’d be concerned about efficiency. “He’ll be too busy asking us questions I don’t want to answer. This isn’t going to affect the team.”

Paige watches her for a moment, looks like she doesn’t quite believe her. “Okay, I won’t mention it. You’re right; this _is_ between you and Toby.”

Her last sentence is a little pointed, but Happy just nods a thanks, glad to have this over and done with. She’s barely stepped away from the desk when Paige speaks up again.

“Wait. Walter can be a little stuck in the emotions department, but he’s not oblivious. If you want to keep this between you, you’ll have to be more... discreet about your feelings.”

She pictures the many times she’s caught Toby gazing at her from across the room, how many times he’s placed a cup of coffee on her bench without her asking for one, how many times he compliments her work and laughs at her jokes. He’s begging to be caught.

She nods, “I’ll pass it on.” She will, probably wrapped in a threat or two.

“No,” Paige says quickly, looks at her sincerely, “Happy, I mean _you._ ”

She frowns, this must be a joke. But Paige is looking at her with warm, genuine eyes; she wouldn’t joke about this. Happy says nothing, goes back to her desk, and thinks of lunch orders and rolled eyes and flirty ex-wives.

* * *

The next morning she wakes up with her face lying on the back of his arm, her own is thrown over his back, his skin smooth and cool. She’s not entirely sure what time it is, but she can tell by his breathing he’s already awake. He’s a lighter sleeper than she originally thought, at least when he’s sober.

She shifts a little, and hears his breath hitch, feels his muscles tense. She smiles, makes sure he feels it against his arm, and she trails her fingers up his back until they’re dancing on the back of his neck.

“Stop thinking so loudly, Doc,” she says her voice husky from sleep.

He pushes himself up, turns his body towards her rather than rolling over. It means that she doesn’t have to move her hand, and she doesn’t, leaves it gently grazing his skin as he watches her through confused, sleepy eyes.

“You stayed,” he says simply, and it’s half question, like he’s checking she didn’t doing it by accident.

She didn’t. Paige words had gotten to her, driven laps in her mind all evening, and she had realised last night that some part of her wanted more of this: more fun, more easy. But she needed to be more discreet, needed to know how to not let this affect her when they weren’t actually here. That’s the deal.

She doesn’t tell him any of that though, just raises her eyebrow playfully. “I realised mornings can be fun too.” She hooks her leg behind his knee to nudge his whole body closer, grips the back of his neck firmly.

“Fun?” he asks, following her actions and shifting so that he’s leaning over her. He’s smiling now, half turned on and half hopeful. He’s trying to read this, read her. She’ll let him try, for now.

She just nods, doesn’t break eye contact until he lowers his head and kisses her. Finally, _the fun part_.


	2. Chapter 2

Happy leaves first that evening, mutters a goodbye to everyone while she’s glancing in his direction. He expects she’ll be coming over tonight, but she’d kill him if he did anything so obvious as to leave straight after her. So he’ll wait a bit, go over some paperwork.

Their case is still going, rich ex-husband still missing, but they’ve narrowed down search areas and Cabe’s sent out parties with strict instructions. He’ll call them if he needs them and Toby’s sure as Hell not going to complain about getting a night off.

“Hey, can I ask you about something?” Paige appears next to his desk. She has her hands clasped in front of her and she’s trying to look non-threatening, which... well, Paige doesn’t ever really look threatening but he’ll give her credit for trying.

“Shoot,” He gestures to the stool next to her and she sits, smoothing down her skirt.

She takes deep breath before she starts, pointedly avoid eye contact with him. “Part of my role here is to watch out for all of you guys, make sure everyone works well as a team.”

He’s confused why she’s bringing this up, but nods anyway. “You’re invaluable to us, Paige. Seriously-”

“So I have to think about how the team would be affected if -,” she cuts him off, then just as abruptly lowers her tone. “...Two members secretly started to get more intimate with each other. Like, say, you and Happy.”

He freezes for a second, swallows the lump in his throat before answering. “Why would you say that?”

“I’ve started noticing little changes between you two. Neither of you are all that subtle really. She’s been laughing at more of your terrible jokes. And also, I’m pretty sure she got jealous this afternoon when that woman was flirting with you.”

She huffs, a little, like she hadn’t meant to mention that. But he can’t help but start to smile at the idea of Happy getting jealous. He wished he could have seen _that._

 “Let me ask _you_ ,” he looks at her pointedly, “If you wanted to talk about me and Happy _hypothetically_ getting intimate, as you put it, why aren’t you talking to me _and_ Happy.”

She paused, “Well, you do have a higher EQ, I thought you’d be more open to discussing –“

“You’re scared to bring it up with her?”

“Terrified.” She says, nodding quickly, and they both share a knowing smile. 

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint, Paige, but there’s nothing to discuss.” He says, making a point to start packing up his things.

“But you like her! Remember the monster trucks?” Paige says suddenly, and he looks at her. She looks almost excited and he wonders whether she’s actually rooting for them to be getting intimate. In which case, he’s almost sorry he can’t give her the good news. But he’s not going to risk screwing this thing up with Happy because he can’t keep his mouth shut.

He sighs, “The thing with Happy is that she needs time to process things at her own pace. You rush her, and she shuts down.”

“So you’re just waiting for her to change her mind?”

“Oh, I never said _that_ ,” he grins at her, lifts his satchel over his shoulder. She looks like she’s slowly figuring it out and he’s happy to leave her to that. “Goodnight Paige.”


End file.
